SW 3.9 First impressions
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Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 1,238
From: north coast of california
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Snowboarder, nice write up my friend. i keep hoping to run across you out on the road so I can check out the 3.9.
I agree about the MPSc's but am about ready to put on some "winter" tires, thinking RE 11's.
Much nicer as the seasonal trailers and winnebago's leave us to our roads!
I agree about the MPSc's but am about ready to put on some "winter" tires, thinking RE 11's.
Much nicer as the seasonal trailers and winnebago's leave us to our roads!
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Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 819
From: El Paso, TX
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Another update on the SW 3.9. I was driving past Infineon on my home when I decided to stop and top off with some 100 octane race fuel. Hehe, what a difference that 9 octane makes with the 3.9!! Once the ecu recognized that it was processing 100 octane the fun started. Of course I had to take the long way home over my favorite stretch of coastal roads. This was wed. and the temperature was 102 degrees when I hit the highest elevation of the drive. The oil temp never surpassed 240 and coolant stayed steady at 175 and was doing a lot of high RPM, low speed 2nd and 3rd gear driving. However at this point things were getting a little slippery so I stopped to check the air pressure before continuing as my very favorite section was coming up, a lot of second gear tight stuff so I wanted as much grip as possible. The rears were up to 44 PSI and the fronts were up to 41 so I dropped them both by 9 PSI and continued on. This settled things down nicely and between the lowered PSI and the fact that the ambient air temperature was dropping as I ventured closer to the coast it was a safe and stable ride the remainder of the way. That is until I came to some road work, ditch cleaning, about 8 miles from the coast, and had a 10 minute wait. As soon as the tires started to cool the TPS started giving it’s warning about low tire pressure! All in all the trip was a real pleasure and the 100 octane will be sourly missed once I run out.
I now have just over 8,000 miles on the 3.9 conversion and the only downside I have observed is the increased tire wear and maybe a decrease in MPG when driving hard, which in my case is pretty much all the time and I seem to be using up a lot more brakes!. I still love the 3.9 and hope to enjoy many more trouble free miles with more stops for 100 octane; I just wish I had a little closer source as it takes about 4-5 gallons to get to the fun part!! I no longer buy the Corsa systems, strictly MPSC’s for me, I feel they are the best bang for the buck for me and my style of driving I just have to take a tenth or two off on damp mornings!
I now have just over 8,000 miles on the 3.9 conversion and the only downside I have observed is the increased tire wear and maybe a decrease in MPG when driving hard, which in my case is pretty much all the time and I seem to be using up a lot more brakes!. I still love the 3.9 and hope to enjoy many more trouble free miles with more stops for 100 octane; I just wish I had a little closer source as it takes about 4-5 gallons to get to the fun part!! I no longer buy the Corsa systems, strictly MPSC’s for me, I feel they are the best bang for the buck for me and my style of driving I just have to take a tenth or two off on damp mornings!
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Joined: Dec 2005
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From: Gualala, Ca.
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No, I returned to the stock 305's. Better acceleration and quicker turn-in!The 325's seemed to make the car push in the tight stuff
Another update on the SW 3.9. I was driving past Infineon on my home when I decided to stop and top off with some 100 octane race fuel. Hehe, what a difference that 9 octane makes with the 3.9!! Once the ecu recognized that it was processing 100 octane the fun started. Of course I had to take the long way home over my favorite stretch of coastal roads. This was wed. and the temperature was 102 degrees when I hit the highest elevation of the drive. The oil temp never surpassed 240 and coolant stayed steady at 175 and was doing a lot of high RPM, low speed 2nd and 3rd gear driving. However at this point things were getting a little slippery so I stopped to check the air pressure before continuing as my very favorite section was coming up, a lot of second gear tight stuff so I wanted as much grip as possible. The rears were up to 44 PSI and the fronts were up to 41 so I dropped them both by 9 PSI and continued on. This settled things down nicely and between the lowered PSI and the fact that the ambient air temperature was dropping as I ventured closer to the coast it was a safe and stable ride the remainder of the way. That is until I came to some road work, ditch cleaning, about 8 miles from the coast, and had a 10 minute wait. As soon as the tires started to cool the TPS started giving it’s warning about low tire pressure! All in all the trip was a real pleasure and the 100 octane will be sourly missed once I run out.
I now have just over 8,000 miles on the 3.9 conversion and the only downside I have observed is the increased tire wear and maybe a decrease in MPG when driving hard, which in my case is pretty much all the time and I seem to be using up a lot more brakes!. I still love the 3.9 and hope to enjoy many more trouble free miles with more stops for 100 octane; I just wish I had a little closer source as it takes about 4-5 gallons to get to the fun part!! I no longer buy the Corsa systems, strictly MPSC’s for me, I feel they are the best bang for the buck for me and my style of driving I just have to take a tenth or two off on damp mornings!
I now have just over 8,000 miles on the 3.9 conversion and the only downside I have observed is the increased tire wear and maybe a decrease in MPG when driving hard, which in my case is pretty much all the time and I seem to be using up a lot more brakes!. I still love the 3.9 and hope to enjoy many more trouble free miles with more stops for 100 octane; I just wish I had a little closer source as it takes about 4-5 gallons to get to the fun part!! I no longer buy the Corsa systems, strictly MPSC’s for me, I feel they are the best bang for the buck for me and my style of driving I just have to take a tenth or two off on damp mornings!
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Joined: Dec 2005
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From: Gualala, Ca.
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Thought it was time to update my Sharkwerks 3.9 conversion as I have just recently turned over the 11,000 mile mark on the new motor. I swear this thing seems to get stronger as the miles mount up! Last month James and Todd made some tweaks to the tuning and believe it or not came up with another 10 HP and added some trq as well. The bad news is that I have only been averaging about 2700 miles per set of rear MPSC’s, down from just under 3200 miles per set with the old stock 3.6! But trust me, it’s worth the added $$. Adding to the new decrease in tire wear may be this terrible habit I have of stopping off at Infineon every chance I get and topping off with some Sonoco 100 octane. The problem is it takes nearly ½ the tank just for me to get home!! I have also installed a new set of Bilstein, GT3 specific, dampers at around 46,000 miles. The stockers were pretty much shot. What a huge improvement this was! I am very pleased with the Bilsteins and highly recommend them as a replacement for those of you who wish to maintain the option of sport or normal ride mode. Next up will be new LSD as that has been worn out for some time and then a new set of the RSS rotors and I should be set for this summers drives. Still loving it and with absolutely no regrets. Many thanks to Alex, James and Dan for providing me with this great motor and looking after all my needs after the build. I just wish it would stop raining soon and give my roads a chance to dry up.
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,409
Rep Power: 124
Thought it was time to update my Sharkwerks 3.9 conversion as I have just recently turned over the 11,000 mile mark on the new motor. I swear this thing seems to get stronger as the miles mount up! Last month James and Todd made some tweaks to the tuning and believe it or not came up with another 10 HP and added some trq as well. The bad news is that I have only been averaging about 2700 miles per set of rear MPSC’s, down from just under 3200 miles per set with the old stock 3.6! But trust me, it’s worth the added $$. Adding to the new decrease in tire wear may be this terrible habit I have of stopping off at Infineon every chance I get and topping off with some Sonoco 100 octane. The problem is it takes nearly ½ the tank just for me to get home!! I have also installed a new set of Bilstein, GT3 specific, dampers at around 46,000 miles. The stockers were pretty much shot. What a huge improvement this was! I am very pleased with the Bilsteins and highly recommend them as a replacement for those of you who wish to maintain the option of sport or normal ride mode. Next up will be new LSD as that has been worn out for some time and then a new set of the RSS rotors and I should be set for this summers drives. Still loving it and with absolutely no regrets. Many thanks to Alex, James and Dan for providing me with this great motor and looking after all my needs after the build. I just wish it would stop raining soon and give my roads a chance to dry up.
Haha...
Seriously thanks for the update as nothing pleases us more than hearing stuff like this. For someone such as yourself to be enjoying this as much as we are... this is why we do it. If we don't build another one ever the whole program would have been worth it. No kidding. OK except for the one we are building for another Canadian right now
We (James and Emily) just installed the Guard built LSD into our car and I can't wait to run it without an open diff. The "sideways" action was fun and all....
Thought it was time to update my Sharkwerks 3.9 conversion as I have just recently turned over the 11,000 mile mark on the new motor. I swear this thing seems to get stronger as the miles mount up! Last month James and Todd made some tweaks to the tuning and believe it or not came up with another 10 HP and added some trq as well. The bad news is that I have only been averaging about 2700 miles per set of rear MPSC’s, down from just under 3200 miles per set with the old stock 3.6! But trust me, it’s worth the added $$. Adding to the new decrease in tire wear may be this terrible habit I have of stopping off at Infineon every chance I get and topping off with some Sonoco 100 octane. The problem is it takes nearly ½ the tank just for me to get home!! I have also installed a new set of Bilstein, GT3 specific, dampers at around 46,000 miles. The stockers were pretty much shot. What a huge improvement this was! I am very pleased with the Bilsteins and highly recommend them as a replacement for those of you who wish to maintain the option of sport or normal ride mode. Next up will be new LSD as that has been worn out for some time and then a new set of the RSS rotors and I should be set for this summers drives. Still loving it and with absolutely no regrets. Many thanks to Alex, James and Dan for providing me with this great motor and looking after all my needs after the build. I just wish it would stop raining soon and give my roads a chance to dry up.
We (James and Emily) just installed the Guard built LSD into our car and I can't wait to run it without an open diff. The "sideways" action was fun and all....
